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Nurse: It’s different facing cancer as a patient

October 26, 2026

Nancy Bynum was diligent about taking care of herself – exercising regularly, eating healthfully, and being proactive about her health.

A certified rehabilitation nurse, she spends much of the year in Prague with her husband, a missionary who works with congregations throughout the Czech Republic. Nancy returns to the U.S. at least once a year to work as a travel nurse.

In March, during one of her trips stateside, her gynecologist found a lump during a routine exam just two days before she was due to board a plane back to Prague. Within 24 hours, she had met with Dr. Vanessa Prowler, a breast surgical oncologist at the TGH Cancer Institute | LRH Hollis Cancer Center, and had a mammogram. The radiologist suggested a biopsy, but the earliest appointment was two weeks later.

Later that day, as Nancy drove to catch her flight, Dr. Prowler called her and said the findings suggested a 98% chance she had cancer. Nancy had biopsies in Prague, and they confirmed that she had breast cancer.

“The diagnosis was quite shocking to me,” she says. “Facing cancer as a patient was a very different experience. I decided to return to Lakeland, where I felt confident I would receive the best possible care.”

Making Informed Decisions

She returned to Florida and met with Dr. Prowler, who explained the diagnosis and provided a diagram with notes about the specific type of cancer Nancy had. Nancy appreciated the time and personal attention that Dr. Prowler invested to make sure she was fully informed.

“That helped me understand what was happening and feel more confident about the decisions ahead,” Nancy says. “Being a nurse gave me familiarity with medical terminology, but oncology is not my specialty, and I have had to learn a lot.”

Nancy had multiple sites of breast cancer within the same breast. In May, less than two months after the diagnosis, Dr. Prowler performed a mastectomy with reconstruction and removed three sentinel lymph nodes, which indicate whether the cancer has spread or is still localized in the breast.

“Breast cancers initially begin in the breast, then spread to the sentinel nodes before becoming metastatic (metastatic means spreading throughout the body),” Dr. Prowler says.

Finding cancer early, as Nancy’s was, gives more treatment options and improves outcomes for a patient. “The most important thing for every woman to do is get an annual mammogram, since aggressive cancers can develop between mammograms,” Dr. Prowler says. “If something were to develop, an annual mammogram can often detect the abnormality years before it turns into cancer.”

Looking to the Future

After her surgery, Nancy began taking a medication to lower the risk of recurrence by lowering estrogen levels and blocking the body from making more. She will remain on the medication for five years. Her oncologist, Imran Ahmad, MD, from the TGH Cancer Institute | LRH Hollis Cancer Center, wants her to be seen every three months, so she has established oncology care in Prague to keep up with her follow-up care.

In November, she will return to Lakeland to complete reconstructive surgery with David Straughan, MD. Although Nancy says she feels fatigued on occasion, she is recovering well and has already returned to many of her usual activities.

She is focused on the future, including welcoming her second grandchild in December.

She advises women facing a breast cancer diagnosis to give themselves time and grace. “You don’t have to understand everything at the first appointment,” she says. “Write down your questions and ask your doctors to explain anything that isn’t clear.”

Nancy adds that finding a care team you trust makes an enormous difference. She is grateful to Dr. Prowler for her expert care and for helping her make informed decisions. 

“Her responsiveness and personal attention meant so much to me from the beginning,” Nancy says. “I had great confidence in her assembling my care team, including my oncologist and plastic surgeon, and I highly recommend her to anyone facing a breast cancer diagnosis.”

Although Nancy the patient will be happy to put this chapter behind her, Nancy the nurse is looking for lessons she can take with her. “It felt odd to be the patient rather than the caregiver,” she says, “but I hope this experience will give me greater empathy when I return to bedside care.”

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